For Vancouver Island hosts
Tired of Airbnb? Keep your rent.
Visitr is an Island-only directory run by two people who live here. One flat annual fee, guests email you directly, and we never take a cut of a single booking.
Visitr next to the big platforms
The question we get most often: how does this compare to what I'm paying now?
| Visitr | Airbnb | VRBO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it costs you | One flat annual fee. Nothing per booking. | A host service fee on every booking — 3% on the split-fee structure, or around 15.5% where the host pays it all. | Either a yearly subscription or a per-booking commission, plus card processing on each booking. |
| Who owns the guest | You do. Enquiries arrive in your inbox with the guest's name, email and dates. | The platform. Messaging stays on-platform and off-platform contact is restricted. | The platform. Messaging stays on-platform. |
| Who takes the payment | You do, however you already do it. We never touch your rent. | The platform collects and pays out on its schedule. | The platform collects and pays out on its schedule. |
| Who sets the rules | You set stay lengths, rates, house rules and cancellation terms. | Policies, ranking and cancellation rules are set centrally and change without you. | Policies and ranking are set centrally. |
| Who you're listed beside | Vancouver Island only. Guests arrive already looking for the Island. | Millions of listings worldwide competing for the same search. | Global inventory. |
| Who you talk to | Us. A small Island business — one email, a real reply. | Support queues and help articles. | Support queues and help articles. |
What it costs you
Visitr: One flat annual fee. Nothing per booking.
Airbnb: A host service fee on every booking — 3% on the split-fee structure, or around 15.5% where the host pays it all.
VRBO: Either a yearly subscription or a per-booking commission, plus card processing on each booking.
Who owns the guest
Visitr: You do. Enquiries arrive in your inbox with the guest's name, email and dates.
Airbnb: The platform. Messaging stays on-platform and off-platform contact is restricted.
VRBO: The platform. Messaging stays on-platform.
Who takes the payment
Visitr: You do, however you already do it. We never touch your rent.
Airbnb: The platform collects and pays out on its schedule.
VRBO: The platform collects and pays out on its schedule.
Who sets the rules
Visitr: You set stay lengths, rates, house rules and cancellation terms.
Airbnb: Policies, ranking and cancellation rules are set centrally and change without you.
VRBO: Policies and ranking are set centrally.
Who you're listed beside
Visitr: Vancouver Island only. Guests arrive already looking for the Island.
Airbnb: Millions of listings worldwide competing for the same search.
VRBO: Global inventory.
Who you talk to
Visitr: Us. A small Island business — one email, a real reply.
Airbnb: Support queues and help articles.
VRBO: Support queues and help articles.
Airbnb and VRBO figures describe each platform's own published host fee structure. What you actually pay them varies by listing, fee model, cancellation policy and payment processing. Compared here so you can check the maths yourself.
What commission actually costs you
Drag to your expected annual booking revenue.
A 15.5% platform takes
$4,650
Visitr takes
$100
flat, per year
You keep an extra
$4,550
per year
15.5% is the host service fee Airbnb publishes for its split-fee structure. Your actual fees vary by platform, listing type and cancellation policy. This is an illustration, not a guarantee of earnings.
What Island hosts are telling us
“I am very tired of Airbnb.”
“Right now I have two places on my property and I'd like to stop using Airbnb and VRBO”
Real messages from hosts who wrote to us, lightly trimmed and shared with first names only.
What you get
Zero commission
One flat annual fee covers twelve months. Whether you book one week or fifty, we take nothing from your rent.
Direct guest contact
Enquiries land in your inbox with the guest's details. You own the conversation, the terms and the payment.
Island-only and local
Guests come here already looking for Vancouver Island. You're not competing with the whole world for attention — and you're supporting a local business, not an offshore platform.
Every stay length
Weekend getaways, monthly relocations, season-long stays. You set the minimum, the rates and the availability.
Set up in minutes
Already on Airbnb or VRBO? Paste the link to your existing listing and we'll fill in your Visitr listing for you — description, bedrooms, amenities and all. You just check it, add photos and set your rate.
Founding host offer
87 of 100 founding-host spots left at this rate.
Refunds: email hello@visitr.ca within 14 days of payment for a full refund of your membership fee. After 14 days the fee is non-refundable.
Claim founding-host pricingRun more than one property?
Property managers and multi-listing hosts pay one membership with volume pricing — the per-listing rate drops as your portfolio grows.
| Portfolio size | Rate | Example total / year |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 listings | Included in the base membership | $100 for 2 |
| 3–4 listings | +$50 per listing per year | $200 for 4 |
| 5–10 listings | +$40 per listing per year | $440 for 10 |
| 11+ listings | +$30 per listing per year | $590 for 15 |
Founding hosts pay $100 for the base (1–2 listings); per-listing add-on rates are the same for everyone.
How it works
- Step 1
Create your host account
Email or Google, under a minute.
- Step 2
Build your listing
Photos, pricing, availability, amenities.
- Step 3
Pay the annual membership
One flat fee. Refundable within 14 days.
- Step 4
Get reviewed and published
A real person checks every listing.
Want the full list of what membership includes? See the host details page.
Not ready yet? We'll send you the details.
Leave your name and email and we'll send a plain-language rundown of what membership costs, how it compares to what you're paying now, and a heads-up when founding-host spots are nearly gone. Or just email hello@visitr.ca.
Questions hosts ask
- How do your prices compare to Airbnb and VRBO?
- They're a different shape. The big platforms charge per booking, so the more you earn the more they take. Visitr charges one flat annual membership and nothing else — no commission, no booking fee, no payment processing cut. If you book even a few weeks a year, the flat fee is almost always the smaller number. The calculator on this page does the maths with your own figures.
- Can I keep my Airbnb or VRBO listing while I try this?
- Yes, and most hosts do at first. You can sync your Airbnb calendar to Visitr with iCal so your availability stays accurate in both places, then wind the other platforms down at your own pace.
- What happens after I pay?
- Your listing goes into review. A real person checks it, and once it's approved it goes live on the directory and on the town and region pages that match it. Membership runs for twelve months from the day you pay.
- Do you handle bookings or take payments from guests?
- No. Visitr is a directory, not an agency. Guests message you directly, and you handle the booking, the agreement and the payment however you already do. We never touch your rent.
- What about BC short-term rental registration?
- If your stay type requires a provincial registration number, you add it to your listing and we validate it against the BC registry. Stays with a minimum of 90 nights or more are exempt and don't need one.
- What if it doesn't work out for me?
- Email hello@visitr.ca within 14 days of payment and we'll refund your membership in full.
Keep your rent. List on the Island's own directory.
Build your listing today — you only pay when you're ready to submit it for review.
Start your listing